That’s the assessment of Woodbury Mayor Mary Giuliani Stephens as she and other advocates make the case — a substantive one — for $3 million in state bonding that will keep Gold Line development on pace, avoiding delays and added costs.

State lawmakers should join Gov. Mark Dayton in making sure their bonding priorities include development funds for the line running east from downtown St. Paul along the Gateway Corridor.

The governor made the commitment at a meeting last year in Woodbury, acknowledging concern about east-west metro balance and calling the project a way to begin to address it. Gold Line development does that, and more:

It’s not your typical transit project: The line — aimed at being ready for riders in 2024 — has support on both sides of the aisle from lawmakers who understand the value of its flexibility and how that reduces cost overall, Giuliani Stephens told the editorial board.

The Gold Line is significant as Minnesota’s first bus rapid-transit line to operate in its own lane, a dedicated “guideway” that would be used exclusively by buses and emergency vehicles.

Oakdale Mayor Paul Reinke, who also brings perspective as a real estate developer, told us the project combines the advantages of “fixed” transit assets — fostering economic development around station stops — with the efficiency of bus transit that results in lower project costs. The Gold Line’s overall funding total is $420 million, reported to be less than half what would have been required for light rail in the corridor.

It will support jobs, jobs, jobs: An analysis found that there are about 1.9 million square feet of retail, office and other existing development within walking distance of the proposed route along Bielenberg Drive in Woodbury and 2,000 jobs near an Oakdale station. For the entire corridor, projections call for about 26,000 additional jobs located in station areas by the year 2040.

Its locally approved route has evolved smartly: We supported a change that would take the line south of I-94 into busy Woodbury, rather than — as initially proposed — heading farther east toward Wisconsin.

The line will serve riders to and from Metropolitan State University and 3M, for example, as it makes its way from Union Depot and downtown stops through the East Side of St. Paul, Maplewood, Landfall and Oakdale, before turning south on Helmo Avenue and crossing over I-94 on a new bridge. It would continue south along Bielenberg Drive to an existing express bus park-and-ride, near the Woodbury Village shopping center.

The bridge represents another plus along this part of the I-94 corridor, which the Gateway Corridor Commission describes as one of the most congested stretches in the Twin Cities region. It’s expected to help relieve traffic congestion by taking an estimated 3,000 to 6,000 cars a day from the heavily traveled Inwood Avenue/Radio Drive area.

It will complement existing express-bus service: Express buses, typically carrying end-to-end riders on rigid early-morning and late-afternoon schedules, will continue to serve the area. Ridership will increase, advocates predict, with the Gold Line providing all-day service in both directions that also will accommodate those who might need to get home mid-day, in the event of a schedule change, for example, or to care for a sick child.

It’s a modest “ask” in a field of big-ticket bonding requests: The $3 million request this year, combined with $2 million in state funding received in 2014, will fulfill the state’s share of project development costs, which include completing environmental review and municipal consent processes and beginning preliminary design and engineering, according to the corridor commission. It also notes that because federal funding does not become available until construction, local funding partners pay a larger percentage of early project costs.

The Gold Line is poised, the commission says, to serve St. Paul and the east metro and connect employers to workers and workers to jobs. It’s up to state lawmakers to assure it stays on track.

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